Both Matthew and Mark were inspired to record an encounter that Jesus had with some of the religious leaders of His day, the Pharisees and Scribes. We are told that they came from Jerusalem. We find this in chapter 15 of Matthew and chapter 7 of Mark.
The setting was that these individuals saw Jesus’ disciples eating bread, or a meal, without washing their hands. Now, this wasn’t just that they hadn’t washed any dirt off of their hands but they had not done so in the vigorous and prescribed way that these individuals taught and followed. They explicitly stated that the disciples were not “holding the tradition of the elders.” (Mark 7:3) Matthew 15:2 states that they asked why the disciples of Jesus “transgress the tradition of the elders.” (Verse 2)
Notice that Jesus, as He often did, responded first by asking these religious leaders a question rather than giving them a direct answer. Matt. 15:3, “But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” He then sites the commandment to honor one’s parents and how they, by following their tradition, were disregarding this command. He states, “Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” (Verse 6) Then in verse 9, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” In Mark’s account it is recorded that He mentioned a number of other things they were holding to because of their traditions. (See Mark 7:7-8)
In both accounts when the Pharisees and Scribes brought their question to Jesus they stated that His disciples were not “holding the tradition of the elders.” This phrase, “tradition of the elders,” refers to the various rules and regulations that they had added to the Law of Moses. Rabbi Michael L. Rodkinson, who did one of the first translations of the Babylonia Talmud into English and author of the two volume "The History of the Talmud" states: "The Talmud is, then, the written form of that which in the time of Jesus, was called the tradition of the elders, and to which he made frequent allusions..." It is often called the “Oral Torah.” This is not the place nor do we have the time to go into this, but when a thorough study is done it will be discovered that stating these rules were given to Moses and passed down orally is not true.
When Jesus walked the earth He adhered to the Law of Moses, as He stated, Matt. 5:17, “I am not come to destroy , but to fulfil.” He, as God in the flesh, not born of Adam but of God, was able to keep the Law as no one else had ever been able to do. However, He made it plain that all of the additions, all of the “traditions” that had been added were of men, not of God. He did not follow or obey those traditions.
As New Covenant Christians we are not concerned about “the Law” nor are we in any way knowledgeable or the least bit interested in these “traditions of the elders” that the Jewish Rabbis had added onto the Mosaic Law. However, have we ever thought what Jesus might say to our religious leaders of the Christian church if He were walking on the earth today? Would He possibly tell them (and us) that we are “Making the word of God of none effect through our tradition?” Just how much of what is taught and believed by most Christians is directly from the Bible and how much is “tradition?” Most have never even considered that question. We have accepted and based our belief system on what we have heard and been taught.
The people of Berea, we are told in Acts 17:11, were “more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” They were held up as an outstanding example of the response one should have when taught something. Not just accepting the teaching of the Gospel by Paul and Silas because it sounded good or because a relative believed it, but they checked up on it, they searched the word, they studied to see what was true.
A few years ago I came across a quotation that I think would be appropriate to insert here. This is taken from a book entitled “Fundamentalism and the Word of God” written by J .I. Packer and copyrighted in 1958.
“We do not start our Christian lives by working out our faith for ourselves; it is mediated to us by Christian tradition, in the form of sermons, books and established patterns of church life and fellowship. We read our Bibles in the light of what we have learned from these sources; we approach Scripture with minds already formed by the mass of accepted opinions and viewpoints with which we have come into contact, in both the Church and the world... It is easy to be unaware that it has happened; it is hard to begin to realize how profoundly tradition in this sense has moulded us. But we are forbidden to become enslaved to human tradition, either secular or Christian, whether it be “catholic” tradition, or “critical” tradition, or “ecumenical” tradition. We may never assume the complete rightness of our own established ways of thought and practice and excuse ourselves the duty of testing and reforming them by Scriptures.”
The apostle Paul instructs us, much like the words of J. I. Packer above, to prove, test, check things by the Scriptures. Let us read his words found in 1 Thessalonians 5:21. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Other translations make this even clearer. I especially like the rendering in the Message, “On the other hand, don’t be gullible, check out every thing, and keep only what’s good.” I know that commentaries are not the same as Scripture but on this verse I find that most of the commentators understand what Paul is telling us. Let me quote portions of several of their notes. Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, “The meaning here is, that they were carefully to examine everything proposed for their belief. They were not to receive it on trust; to take it on assertions; to believe it because it was urged with vehemence, zeal, or plausibility. In the various opinions and doctrines which were submitted to them for adoption, they were to apply the appropriate tests from reason and the word of God, and what they found to be true they were to embrace; what was false they were to reject.” Adam Clarke says, “Whatever ye hear in these prophesyings or preachings, examine by the words of Christ, and by the doctrines which, from time to time, we have delivered unto you in our preaching and writings. Try the spirits - the different teachers, by the word of God.”
From John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, “...yet do not implicitly believe everything they say, but examine them according to the word of God the test and standard of truth; search the Scriptures, whether the things they say are true or not.” He continues, speaking of those that are “ministers of the word or such who are said to have a gift of prophesying,” “...and also their doctrines, and if false reject them, and if true receive them.” The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary says, “...”but,’ at the same time, do not take ‘all’ as genuine which professes to be so; ‘prove (test) all’ such manifestations. The means of testing them existed in the Church, in those who had the ‘discerning of spirits’ (1Cor. 12:10; Gal. 1:9; 1 John 4:1). Another sure test, which we also have, is, to try the professed revelation whether it accords with Scripture, as the noble Bereans did (Act 17:11).”
A few years ago I came across an interesting book written by Frank Viola, entitled “Pagan Christianity.” It exposed the origins of many of our modern church practices. Here are a few quotations from the Introduction of the book. “As Christians, we are taught by our leaders to believe certain ideas and behave certain ways. We have a Bible, yes. But we are conditioned to read it with the lens handed to us by the Christian tradition to which we belong. We are taught to obey our denomination (or movement) and never to challenge what it teaches.” “If the truth be told, we Christians never seem to ask why we do what we do. Instead, we blithely carry out our religious traditions, never asking where they came from.” And, one more. “Strikingly, contemporary church thought and practice have been influenced far more by post-Biblical historical events than by NT (New Testament) imperatives and examples. Yet most Christians are unconscious of this influence. Nor are they aware that it has created a slew of cherished, calcified, humanly-devised traditions – all of which are routinely passed off to us as ‘Christian.’”
The author limits his coverage to modern church practices, but his questions are just as applicable to many of the commonly taught and believed doctrines. Most of us have never questioned what we are taught, let alone do as the Bereans and search the Scriptures. Most of us never seek to “prove all things” as we are admonished by the apostle Paul to do. And, sadly, most of us have never been instructed in how to study or search. We read the Bible, which is good. But, often we read without really thinking about what is being said to us. I have in past years followed a Bible reading plan to read completely through the Bible in one year. And, this is good. However, it often becomes just a check-list to get through each day’s scheduled reading.
We have so many great Bible study aids available to us that past generations never had. Even if we can’t afford to purchase many of these aids most are available on the internet and come as part of a number of free Bible programs that can be downloaded onto most home computers. I would encourage each and every one to begin by picking a subject or topic, it doesn’t have to be a major study to begin with. Compare various Bible translations. Read commentaries, keeping in mind that they are most helpful in giving historical background and clarifying some of the old English wording found in the King James and other versions. Learn to use a concordance and see where a word is used, how it is translated in different passages. Not only will you be searching out what is true versus tradition, but you will find that Bible study becomes interesting and exciting.
However, we must keep in mind that the most important Bible study “aid” is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that He would send the Spirit of Truth and he would guide us into all truth. (John 16:13) We need to ask for revelation and understanding, to be lead to see truth, to distinguish between truth and tradition. And, we must always remain teachable, to receive what we are shown and be willing to change the way we think and what we believe.
October 2019
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